Shade operating device for motor cars



1 July 14, 1931.

J. v. w. PHlLLlPs 1,814,455

SHADE OPERATING DEVICE FOR. vMOTOR CARS Filed Jan. 30, 1928 /NvENTaR daMss V/c ron WIL sou P11/LL /Ps n-rroR/vsYs l Patented July 14, 1931UNITED srATl-ssI PATENT OFFICE JAMES v-Ic'ron. WILSON PIIILLiPsoINEwrwEsrmsTEn, BRITISH coLUinBIA, GANADA SHADE OPERATING DEVICE FORMOTOR CASES Application led January 30, 1928. Serial No. 250,678.

My invention relates to improvements in shade operating devices formotor cars, which are particularly adapted for use on closed carswherein, during night 'driving the illumination of the rear window andwindshield of the car from the headlights of a following car, reflectsback into-the driversl face from the windshield. The object of theinvention is to provide means operated from the engine of the carwhereby the shade fitted to the rear window may be lowered or raised atwill by a simple movement of the driver. A further object is to providemeans whereby the operation of a single knob will draw` down the shade`and cause it to remain in drawn position, to draw it down andimmediately permit it to be raised, and to permit it to be raised fromdrawn position when desired.. I

The invention consists essentially of a vacuum operated. piston in asingle acting cylinder in communication with the engine manifold, whichpiston is operativelyT connected to a pair of side cords attached to 425 a shade fitted to a self winding roller of the Hartshorn or othersimilar type, as will be more fully described in the .followingspecification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which z-f vFig. 1 is a sectional view of car body showing the application of theinvention to the rear win dow shade.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view ofthe control valve.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the operating cylinder.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in each figure. n

The numeral 1 indicates generally a motor car having a body 2, an engine3. fitted with a carburetor 4 and an intake manifold 5. The numeral 6indicates the instrument board, 7 the rear seat, 8 the top Aand 9 therear Window which is fitted with a shade 1() mounted upon a Hartshorn orother suitable roller, which is adapted to be released for rewinding theshade immediately following a sharp downward pull being imparted to theshade and to be held in lowered position if released as shown inFigure 1. The cylinder 15 isfitted with an apcrtured upper closure 16through which thehcord 12 extends and is provided with a bottom closure17 from which a communicating tube 18 extends along or below the fioorof the car body thence extending upwards to a control valve generallyindicated by the numeral 19. The control valve 19, see Figure 2,consists of a horizontal body in which a pair ofaligned cylindersrespectively numbered 20 and 21 are formed, the former being of largerinternal diameter than the latter.v

The outer end of the cylinder 20 is fitted with a head 22 which isapertured as at 23 and is provided with a central boss 24 forming aguide for a piston rod to be hereinafter referred to. A port 25 isprovided in the wall of the cylinder 20 intermediate its length, whichcommunicates through the tube 18 with the vacuum cylinder 15. A furtherport 26 is provided adjacent the inner end of the cylinder 20 whichcommunicates through a tube 27 with the intake manifold 5 of the engine3. The outer end of the cylinder21 is fitted with an apertured cap 28fitted on its inner side with a felt washer 29 or other device forpermitting a suitable leakage therethrough. The body 19 is fitted withan elongated member 30 having suitable pistons 31 and 32. The piston 31fitting the cylinder 2O and the piston 32 fitting the cylinder 21.Extending from the member 30 is a rod 33 fitted with a'knob 34 by whichthe pistons may be manually moved in-either direction.

Having thus described the several parts of my invention I will nowbriefly explain its function.

Assuming the shade 10 to be rolled up and it being desired to'lower it,it suffices to Withdraw the knob 34 to the limit of its stroke, whichwill dispose the pistons 31 and 32 at the opposite ends of the cylinders20 and 21 to that shown, thus uncovering both the ports 25 and 26, sothat the suctionv produced by the en ein the manifold 5 influences thelston 14 1n the vacuum cylinder 15 to draw 1t ownwards and through thecord 12 lower the 5 shade 10.- Assthe knob 34 is released the suctionwithin the body 19 having a greater pull on the piston 31 than on thepiston 32 w11l cause the member 30 to move to the left, thls movementwill be relatively slow owing to a l slight compression between thepiston 32 and the leak washer 29 in the cap 28 on the outer end of thecylinder 21.v .The return movement will first cause the piston 31 tocover the port 25, thus bringing the piston 414 andl l the shade 10 torest, subsequent vmovement will slowly uncover the ort 25 and admitatmospheric air received t rough the apertures 23 in the head'22lintothe tube 18 and the vacuum cylinder 15, thus allowing a slight upwardmovement of the piston 14 therein, until the pawls or other lockingdevices of the shade roller 9 en age to prevent' the further rotation ofthe ro er, thus leaving the shade in drawn position. The further suctionfrom 25 the manifold will continue to draw the member 430 endwise to theleft until the piston 31 has covered the port 26 and the influence ofthe suction has been overcome, thus restoring the knob tono'rmalposition as shown. If

I 30 the knob is withdrawn and returned quickly to normal position withthe shade in drawn position, a suction' will -irst be a plied throughthe ports 25 and 26 to the cylinder 15, drawing down the piston 14momentarily to release the pawls of the shade roller 11,

which is immediately followed by air being freely admitted to the tube18 as the port 25 is uncovered' to communicatel with the apertures 23 ofthe head 22, thus releasing all ten- 40 sion on the cord 12 and allowingthe spring of the roller 11 to function and rewind the shade 10.

When desired todraw down the shade and raise it Yafter a very shortinterval, the knob` a 34 is withdrawn and heldrin extended positionduring such interval, and then by quick- 1y, returning it to normalposition, the suction in the cylinder 15 is immediately changed to anatmospheric condition, thus allowing the piston 14 to rise under thepull ofthe spring of the roller 11 as previously described.

What I claim as my inventionis: 1. A spring roller shade operatingmeans,

56 comprising a vacuum cylinder, a piston therem, 'fa' flexible elementconnecting the shade and piston, a second cylinderl communicating withthe yacuum cylinder, a suction p1pecommun1catmg with the secondmeic-tlonedcylinder, whereby suctionv is created within the vacuumcylinderto operate the,

piston one 'direction and lower the shade, a plston lndthe secondmentioned cylinder and manually operated in one direction to estab--lish lcommunication between the' suction pipe and vacuum cylinder, andautomatically returned by suction to itsinormal position to cut ol saidcommunication.

2. A spring roller shadeoperating means, comprising a vacuum cylinder, apiston therein, a iexible element connecting the shade and piston, asecond cylinder communicating with the vacuum cilinder, a suction pi ecommunicating with t e second mentione cylinder, a piston in the secondmentioned cylinder, a rod connected with the piston to manually operatethe latter in one direction and estabhsh communication between thesuction pipe and vacuum cylinder, whereby the piston in the latter ismoved in one direction to lower the shade, the piston of the secondmentioned cylinder being lautomatically returned by suction to itsnormal position tocut oi sa1d communication, and means for retarding themovement of the last mentioned piston to its normal position.

3. A suction operated mechanism of the character described comprisinga-vacuum e linder, a piston therein, a second cylindermcluding portionsof relatively different diameters arranged in end to end relation, asuc'- tion pipe communicating with the larger portion, meansestablishing communication between said portion and the vacuum cylinder,a piston operating in said portion, means for manually operatingthe'plston' in one direction to establish communication between thesuction pipe and vacuum cylinder, said piston being automaticallyreturned by suction to its normal position tof'cut off saidcommunication, and a plun er carried 'by said piston and operating in te small portion of the cylinder to retard the return movement of saldpiston.

Dated at Vancouver, B. C., this 20th day of January, 1928. v

JAMES VICTOR WILSON PHILLIPS.

